Surprise
by eiahmon
Summary: Side Story to Burning Heart. Lea get's the surprise of his life.


**Disclaimer: Not mine, don't own. *breaks out the spackle***

"I hate winter!" Lea exclaimed as he arranged the wood in the small fireplace in his and Isa's living room.

"You've said that four times already." Isa said evenly from behind the newspaper that he was reading.

"Then I'll say it again: I hate winter!" The redhead sat back on his haunches and with a flick of his fingers, a fire roared to life in the fireplace, and he sighed in relief as he felt the heat of it wash over him.

Isa lowered his newspaper then and looked at him then. "Then how did you live in Radiant Garden for sixteen years? We had winters there too."

"Not like the winters here. Radiant Garden's winters didn't get this bone deep chill that made you think that your breath would freeze the second if left your mouth."

"Well, I guess you would know by now that that's not true, since you haven't shut up about it all day."

Lea gave his best friend a sour look. Isa was wearing an amused smirk and was bundled up in what seemed like every blanket in the house. "What would you know about the cold, sitting there all snug in all your blankets. I bet you can't even remember what it feels like."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lea realized his mistake. Isa flinched, and then his green eyes flashed with anger. "No, I wouldn't know anything about that at all, would I? I wouldn't know anything about lying in a cold stone room, chained to the floor. I wouldn't know anything about having to bundle up in so many blankets because I chill so easily, and even then, I still feel cold. No, I don't know anything about it at all!" He stood up and tossed the newspaper aside. "I'm going to bed."

"Isa, wait. The fireplace is not going in there, and I have to warm the room up. It's too cold for you – Isa, damn it." He stood up and followed the other down the hall to the single bedroom that the two of them shared. Isa was already climbing into bed , and Lea couldn't help but notice how he was shivering as he laid down on the cold sheets. He pulled the blankets over himself and curled up in a ball, shivering hard. Lea hastily lit the fireplace, but even with his control over fire, it would be a while before he had enough coals to fill the warming pan.

He moved over to Isa's bedside and sat down on the floor beside him. "Idiot," he said affectionately as he brushed a few stray strands of blue hair out of Isa's face "You're supposed to wait until I've warmed the room and your bed up before getting in." Isa grumbled something and snuggled down further into his blankets. Lea chuckled and sat beside Isa until his body heat warmed the bed, and he stopped shivering. "Goodnight, Isa."  
"Night," Isa mumbled as he dropped off, and Lea smiled gently as he rose from the bed and left the room, quietly shutting the door to hold onto the heat from the fireplace.

In the morning, Lea broke a path through the blanket of snow to reach their workshop, which was housed in a small building behind their house. On the way, he passed their bee hives, and he could hear the soft humming from within the covers over the hives to keep the snow out and help the hive hold heat. The bees would remain safely in their hives, living off stored honey, until spring arrived. Until then, they made their candles from drippings collected around town, tallow from the cattle ranchers, and soy wax from the farmers, including Xavier's family. There was some work to do, but before they could do it, the snow drift in front of the door had to be cleared, and he needed to make sure that the chimney was clear of ice and snow. Once that was done, he could light the wood burning stove that kept the room warm, and then return to the main house to have breakfast. Once breakfast was done, the small building would be warm enough to work in.

With the snow removal done, Lea returned to the house and went about making breakfast. It was only as he was dishing up the eggs, bacon, and toast that he realized that Isa had not come downstairs yet. Worry settled around his heart; Isa was _always_ up in time for breakfast, even on the coldest mornings. Setting the food on the table, Lea walked quickly back to the bedroom and opened the door.

Inside he found Isa huddled under his blankets, shivering, and when he walked up to the bed, he saw that his face was flushed, and a quick touch to his forehead revealed that he had a fever. Isa shuddered, shrank away from the touch, and opened his eyes.

"Lea?" he asked, and his voice was raspy and nasally, hinting at a sore throat and clogged sinuses. His eyes were glassy, and Lea knelt down on the floor next to the bed.

"I'm here, Isa."

"I don't feel well."

"I know." He gently brushed Isa's hair out of his face before he stood. He then pulled the blankets off of his own bed, and draped them over Isa's shivering form. "Go back to sleep. I'm going to go find Taylor or Xavier and have them come look at you." Lea had been quietly warned that Isa's health would likely never fully recover from his near death, and that any illness, no matter how minor it seemed, could be dangerous.

"Don't leave me alone."

"I'll be right back. I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm going to get you some help."

Lea portaled out of the room them, straight into the hospital. He knew that either Xavier or Taylor would be in the building, and he was proven correct when he found Xavier inside the small office.

"Lea, what is it? Is something wrong with Isa?"

"He's sick. Can you come look at him?"

Xavier stood up from his chair and pulled his coat on. "What are his symptoms?"

"Uhhh," Lea thought for a quick second. "Chills, fever, raspy voice, sounds like his nose is clogged up."

"Alright, go back home and sit with him. I'll be there after I gather a few things together."

Lea nodded and portaled back home, where he found Isa in the same state that he had left him in. He sat down on the bed and tucked the blankets around him. "Xavier will be here in a few to look at you. Can I get you anything while we wait?"

Isa shook his head as more shivers wracked his body. "Just don't leave me alone, okay?"

"I won't. I'll stay right here with you."

Isa sighed and huddled down even further into the blankets, and a few minutes later, Xavier portaled into the hallway and knocked on the bedroom door. Lea called out for him to come in, and the physician walked into the room and up to the bed as Lea stepped away.

Isa whined in protest when Xavier peeled the blankets away. "I'm cold, Xavier."

"I know, but I need you to sit up so I can listen to your lungs."

Grumbling, Isa reluctantly sat up and began to unbutton his pajama top, and he shivered despite the warmth coming from the roaring fireplace. Lea stood back and watched as Xavier checked Isa over, and he tried to keep the worry from his face, but he had a feeling that he wasn't totally successful. Finally, after several minutes had passed with only a few spoken instructions from Xavier to Isa ("Deep breath.", "Exhale."), Isa buttoned up his top and wrapped himself in his blankets.

"No, Isa." Xavier said gently as he went to lie back down. "You need to stay upright. Right now you have only a bad cold, but if you lie down it could cause it to trickle down into your lungs, which we definitely do not want." He turned to Lea. "Do you have any extra pillows that he can lean against?"

"No, we only have what's on the beds."

"He needs to sleep sitting up, so we have to find something."

"I can just lean against the wall." Isa grumbled "Now may I_ please_ go back to sleep?"

"No," Xavier replied "not yet. I'm not going to tell you to stay in bed all day, but I do want you to rest. No working on your candles, no chores, nothing. Drink plenty of liquids, preferably warm liquids, not cold. You're chilled enough as it is without adding cold drinks to the mix. Eat if you want to, but don't try it if you're not sure you can handle it. I really don't think you want to add nausea to the list, am I right?" Isa shook his head, and Xavier smiled gently at him. "Most importantly, you must stay warm. Bundle up in every blanket in the house if you have to, but I want you to keep warm. If your chill goes away and you feel overheated, you can strip off some layers, but I want you to stay under at least one blanket at all times."

"May I go back to sleep now?" Isa asked quietly, and Xavier leaned forward and hugged him.

"Yes, you may, but stay sitting up, okay? I don't want you getting worse."

Isa nodded silently, and he scooted back across his bed until he had backed himself into the corner where the headboard met the wall. He piled his pillows up behind him to give him a soft surface to lean against, and then he wound his blankets around himself and closed his eyes with a sigh. Lea watched him with a faint smile as he went to sleep, but he lost the smile quickly when Xavier gestured for him to follow him out into the hallway. He did so, and once the bedroom door was closed behind him, Xavier looked at him seriously.

"I don't think that I need to tell you to keep a close eye on him," he said seriously "but I'm saying it anyway. His lungs are very fragile; the kind of respiratory infection that he had when we rescued him leaves permanent damage, which leaves his lungs weaker than they were before. If he worsens at all, I don't care if it's only a tiny bit, I want you to come and get me immediately."

Lea nodded. "I understand. I'll look after him."

Xavier nodded. "I'll be back to check on him in a few days. He should have started to improve by then. Like I said, if he worsens, come find me. I don't care what time it is." With that, he portaled out, and Lea went back into the bedroom.

Isa was nestled in the corner, curled up as much as he could be while still sitting up. The weight of the blankets over him had been enough to finally stop his shivering, and Lea gently tucked them around him, brushed his hair back, and kissed him lightly on the forehead before he went out to the kitchen to get started on a cold breakfast.

Isa slept well into the afternoon, and the sun was setting when he wandered into the living room, still wrapped in nearly every blanket they had. He settled into his chair by the fire and drank down the broth that Lea offered him, and the two made small talk until dinner time. Isa only nibbled at his food, not really feeling hungry, and he went back to be shortly thereafter.

Lea washed up in the kitchen, made sure everything was closed up and put away in the workshop, and quietly read a book until he too went to bed. When he walked into the bedroom, he found Isa still curled up in the corner, but he had slipped down and was lying on his side instead of sitting up. He still had Lea's blankets in addition to his own as well. Lea shook his head slightly as he shrugged off his day clothes and got into his pajamas, and he walked over to Isa's bed. He reached under the mountain of blankets, gently grasped Isa's shoulders and pulled him back upright. Isa whined in protest, and as soon as Lea let go of him, he scooted back down.

"C'mon Isa," Lea said patiently "You heard what Doctor Xavier said. You have to sit up."

"Don' wanna." Isa mumbled from within his cocoon, and Lea sighed in exasperation. He dragged Isa back upright, but again, as soon as he let go of him, he scooted back down.

"Do you want to get pneumonia again?" Lea asked as he put his hands on his hips. Isa didn't answer, and the soft sounds of snoring coming from within the blankets told that he had gone back to sleep. Lea sighed and shook his head. "What would you do without me?"

Snagging his own pillows off of his bed, Lea piled them up in the corner along with Isa's and then climbed into bed. He nestled against the pillows in the corner, fiddled with them to get them just right, and then he leaned forward and hauled Isa up to him. Isa squeaked in surprise, but he quickly got over his surprise and snuggled against Lea's left side. Lea wrapped his arm around him, and tugged the blankets over to cover them both.

"I guess I'll just have to hold onto you all night then." he said quietly as Isa settled back down with a contented sigh. He glanced over at the fireplace (While realizing that he should have checked on it before getting into bed.) and upon seeing that it had enough wood to last for a while, he settled down to get some sleep.

Lea's eyes snapped open as he he went from sound asleep to fully awake instantly. Three things occurred to him simultaneously: one, Isa was still huddled against him, shivering, two the fireplace had gone out, and the room was dark and cold as a result, and three, something felt very, very wrong.

He sat up and pulled Isa closer, and with a twitch of his fingers a fire roared to life in the grate. The room filled with light and warmth, but it did nothing to stop Isa's shivering, nor did it do anything to banish the feeling that something was wrong.

_This is what it felt like in Radiant Garden just before the Heartless came._

Carefully lying Isa down, not caring at all about Xavier's orders at the moment, Lea climbed out of bed and left the room, summoning his chakrams as he went. The house, he knew, was warded against the Heartless, so as long as Isa stayed inside, he would be safe while he investigated. The hall was dark, and the living room was lit only by the faint glow from the dying embers in the fireplace. The cloaking shadows made it difficult to see anything that might have been lurking in the corners, but his senses weren't detecting any Heartless, at least, not yet.

The front door hinges squeaked loudly when he pulled the door open, and a blast of frigid air from outside flew into the room. Lea shivered and realized that he should have grabbed his coat before investigating.

"Lea?" came Isa's raspy voice from the bedroom "Where did you go? Are there Heartless here?"

"I'm not seeing any." Lea called back "Just stay in bed while I check things out, okay?"

Isa did not answer, and Lea paid him no mind as he stepped outside onto their small porch. Just because he wasn't seeing any Heartless didn't mean that -

"Ah," he said quietly as he felt the telltale sensation of darkness fizzling across his skin just as small portals opened in front of him and multiple Heartless appeared. He immediately cloaked his weapons in fire and hurled them at the creatures that were advancing on him. He then teleported to catch them, and hurled them again, this time spraying fireballs from his hands before teleporting a second time. He was careful not to hit the house; it was warded against the Heartless, not against fire. Barely a second later, he heard a corridor of darkness opening, followed by the comforting sound of a keyblade being summoned.

"Where is Isa?" Xavier asked as he joined the fight against the ever increasing numbers.

"He's inside, in bed." Lea replied.  
Xavier nodded. "Good."

The two fell silent then and focused on defeating the horde in front of them. Lea had not seen so many Heartless in one place since Radiant Garden's destruction, and he kept reminding himself that the houses were warded against them, and that the world's keyhole was sealed, which would prevent it from being destroyed a second time.

"Fire!" Xavier shouted, and Lea turned just in time to see several Heartless simply vanish into the largest fireball he had ever seen. The shockwave knocked him back a few feet and cracked a few of the house's windows. Hadn't Xavier used that spell back at the Keyblade Graveyard?

"You're gonna have to teach me that one!" he yelled over the sounds of the battle, and Xavier shouted back.

"Sorry, keyblade wielder exclusive!"

"Ha! I'll guess I'll just have to get a keyblade then!"

"Lea?"

"No..." Lea felt his heart drop at the sound of the familiar voice, and he turned around to see Isa standing on the porch steps, shivering in only his nightclothes. "Isa, get back inside now!" Some of the Heartless, sensing a new target, advanced on Isa, but instead of going inside, behind the wards, Isa actually summoned Lunatic and prepared to fight. "Damn it, Isa! You're in no shape to fight these guys! Get back inside!"

"Get him inside, Lea!" Xavier shouted, and Lea hurled both of his chakrams out in front of him, cutting a path through the Heartless to get to Isa. Isa swung his claymore around him in an arc, keeping the Heartless back, but it was clear that he was too weak and tired to fight effectively. Lea plowed through the Heartless to get to him, and he sped up his pace when he saw the small group of Invisibles that were creeping up on him. Isa carried on, unaware of the danger, until they as one, leapt up and pounced on him. Isa was knocked down the porch steps to the ground, and he lost his grip on Lunatic.

"Isa!" Lea screamed in terror. He couldn't lose Isa again, not again! He reared his hands back to throw his chakrams again, but there was a flare of light from the pile of Heartless, and they were flung back in a brilliant display of light as the protection charm that Xavier had given Isa over a year ago did its work. Isa was lying on the ground, shaking, and he did not attempt to get up. The charm was a one time thing; it required recharging after every use, so there was nothing to stop the Heartless from pouncing on Isa a second time.

"Lea!" Isa wailed as he disappeared under the Heartless a second time "Help me!"

"Hold on, Isa! I'm coming! I'm -" Whatever Lea was about to say was interrupted when a large weight crashed down on him from behind, and he was slammed face first into the ground. The air was knocked hard from his lungs, and his chakrams were knocked out of his hands, and they vanished. He felt dozens of claws tearing at his clothes, searching for his heart, but he ignored them. Isa was still under the pile of Invisibles, screaming. He had to get to him! He had to protect him! He wasn't going to lose Isa again!

Love, care, a fierce desire to protect the one he cared about, and a burning rage at the Heartless surged up within Lea's heart. Light flared in his hand, and the Heartless were blown back as cool metal appeared in his hand.

_Keyblade..._

_Keyblade..._

_Keyblade..._

Lea ignored the whispering around him, instead he used the Heartless' hesitation to get to Isa, who was still screaming under the pileup. Xavier appeared from somewhere, and the two charged the Invisibles, scattering them. Lea hoisted Isa up by his arm, shoved him through the front door into the house, and slammed the door shut. With Isa safely behind the wards, they turned back to the horde.

It was nearly an hour later that the last Heartless fell under Xavier keyblade. They looked around to make sure that they were no more about, and seeing that the coast was clear, Xavier cast a Curaga over the both of them. They then went inside to check on Isa.

They found him lying on the floor where he had landed after Lea had shoved him through the door, curled up on a ball, shivering. Lea let go of his keyblade, knelt down on the floor, and gathered Isa up into his arms. "Isa. Isa? Can you hear me?"

Isa whimpered and cracked his eyes open. "Lea?"

"I'm right here."

Xavier knelt down beside them for a moment and looked Isa over, before he cast a Curaga over him as well. "Take him to the hospital, Lea. I'll be right behind you." Lea looked at him and nodded, and then he portaled straight to the hospital without standing up.

In the hospital, they found Taylor, and the man appeared frantic. "What happened? Where did Xavier go?"

"Heartless attacked Lea and Isa's house." Xavier replied as he portaled in "The rest of the world is fine, but right now, Isa needs medical attention."

"I'm fine." Isa protested from Lea's arms as he was carried into the exam room and laid down on the table.

"You are ill, and you just had a serious shock, on top of a dangerous chill. You are not fine, and you going to stay in the hospital until I say you are." Xavier said sternly as he peeled Isa's torn and bloodied pajamas off of him "Am I in any way unclear, Isa? What you did was incredibly stupid, and part of me wants to take you over my knee and give you the ass beating of your life for it. What were you thinking?"

"Hey, take it easy on him, Xavier." Lea said "As you said, he's sick, so don't jump all over him."

"Yes, he's sick, yet instead of staying in bed, _as he should have_, when the Heartless appeared, he left his bed, walked out of the house, _left the safety of the wards_, and then tried to fight them! What were you thinking, Isa?"

Isa's green eyes flashed yellow for a moment, and Lea took a step forward to restrain him if need be, but then the beserker settled and calmed. "I don't have to answer to you, Xavier!" Isa snapped "You're not my superior anymore, remember?"

"But I _am_ your primary care physician, and I have half a mind to tie you down to your bed until you're better."

Isa's entire demeanor changed at the threat, and he shrank back away from Xavier's angry eyes. "I'm sorry," he whimpered "I won't do it again. Please don't tie me down." He looked down and began to cry. "I promise I'll be good."

Lea wrapped his arms around Isa and sent Xavier a nasty look. "It's alright, Isa." he said gently "No one's going to tie you down ever again." Isa curled close to him and hid his face, and Xavier sighed.

"No, Isa." he said tiredly "I'm not going to tie you down. I'm just upset with you, because you risked yourself like that. Next time, stay in bed okay?" He lightly tapped Isa on the nose. "Now let's get you cleaned up and back to bed."

Lea and Xavier finished undressing him, gave him a sponge bath to wash off the blood and dirt, dressed him in pajamas, and then Lea carried him to one of the private rooms and put him to bed.

"I don't want to stay here, Lea." Isa whined as the blankets were tucked around him "Why can't we just go home?"

"Because you've had quite the shock and chill, as I said earlier." Xavier replied "I want you here in case you worsen suddenly as a result."

"Can Lea stay here too?"

Xavier smiled gently at him. "Of course he may. If you haven't gotten any worse by morning, then I'll let you go home." He gently reached out and smoothed Isa's hair down. "I'm sorry for threatening and scaring you, Isa. You scared the life out of me with what you pulled. Don't do it again, and we'll forget this ever happened, okay?"

Isa smiled weakly and nodded, and Xavier elevated the head of the bed so he was sitting upright. He then leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. Exhausted by his short fight, he fell asleep quickly

Lea, sitting next to the bed, spoke up in the quiet room.

"If you ever frighten him like that again, I will..." He trailed off, and then sighed heavily. "Just don't scare him again. You know that he's terrified of being locked up again, and that includes restraints of any kind."

Xavier sighed as well as he took the other chair in the room, opposite Isa's bed from Lea. "I know, and I'll be kicking myself for saying that for days. Damn it, Lea, he _knows_ better than that. If it hadn't been for that charm that I gave him, he would have lost his heart again, and this time he might not have carried on as a Higher Nobody."

Lea reclined in the chair and raked his fingers through his hair. "I know, Xavier. Trust me, I know, and when he's feeling better I'll probably give him a lot of grief for it. I cannot believe that he was crazy enough to try that."

"Hmph, well then I guess I had better start your training soon, so you can protect him from himself the _next_ time he tries it."

Lea sat up abruptly. "Training? For what? I don't want to be a doctor or anything."

"Not medical training, Lea. Keyblade training."

"_Keyblade! _What -?" Isa grumbled and rolled over onto his side, and Lea fell silent. Without a word, he raised his right hand, and the keyblade that had come to him earlier reappeared in his hand.

The hilt was in the shape of one his chakrams, with a bar running down the middle for the handgrip. The keychain was also a chakram, and the blade was a in the shape of a single tongue of flame, curling up and over itself at the end.

"Proud Flame." Xavier said reverently.

"How?" Lea asked quietly "How did I...? Of all people, how did I get one?"

"What were you thinking just before it came to you?" Xavier asked quietly.

Lea shook his head. "I was thinking about Isa, and how I wasn't going to lose him again. I was thinking that I had to get to him and protect him."

"What were you feeling?"

"How much... how much I loved him."

He saw Xavier smile out of the corner of his eye. "It is that that drew the keyblade to you. Sometimes, even if you were not chosen by a keyblade master, the keyblade will choose you if it judges you worthy."

"Me? Worthy? After everything that I did?"

"Everything _Axel_ did. You are not him, Lea, and for what it's worth, Axel did his best to make up for what he had done as well. They keyblade may stay with the corrupted heart, as it did with Master Xehanort, but it will not come to you in the beginning if it does not find you worthy."

"Heh, Isa's not going to believe this. Oh man, wait until Roxas hears."

"Get a picture of his face for me."

"Will do." Lea leaned back in his chair and was silent for a moment. "Xavier," he asked hesitantly "Do you really think I'm worthy of the keyblade?"

"I do."

"It's a burden, isn't it. There were times when neither Sora nor Roxas seemed too happy with having them."

"It can be. A keyblade master has certain responsibilities and duties to the universe at large, and it can be a burden at times."

"But you don't seem to have any."

"I renounced my duties as master long ago." Xavier sighed and tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling. "It doesn't help that it's not safe for me to leave this world much. I saved the universe from my darker half, and now I protect this world from the Heartless. That's all I can do."

"There were a lot of Heartless earlier, a lot more than I would expect normally."

"There were, and I'm not sure what attracted them. Of course, I will strengthen your wards tomorrow. As a keyblade wielder, you will stand out like a lit candle in a dark room to the Heartless."

"I'm not so sure I want it then."

Xavier shook his head. "Too late. It is bound to you until the day you die. Besides you want to learn how to cast Mega Flare, don't you?"

"Oh?" Lea looked at him in bemusement, and then his eyes widened comically. "Oooooh! When do we start?"

"Not tonight." Isa grumbled "I'm trying to sleep here." Xavier laughed, and Lea stood up from his chair.

"Sorry, Isa." he said "Didn't mean to wake you up." Isa grumbled some more and settled back down, and Lea tucked the blankets around him as Xavier left the room. He came back a minute later with a rolling cot, which he set up at the foot of Isa's bed.

"You can sleep here." he said "I'll sleep in the office. If he worsens at all, come and get me."

"I will." Lea kicked his boots off and sat down on the cot. "Goodnight, Xavier."

"Goodnight, Lea. I'll see you in the morning."

Xavier dimmed the lights but didn't turn them off – Isa was still terrified of the dark – and walked out of the room, while Lea climbed under the blankets and laid down on his side. He heard Xavier getting into bed in the office, and then the hospital was quiet and still. Reaching out a hand, Lea summoned Proud Flame. The weapon appeared in a flash of light, and Lea looked at it until he fell asleep, basking in the warmth that blossomed in his heart.


End file.
